TRAFFICKING REPORT CONCERNS

CCNTV6

Attorney at Law Criston J. Williams and Venezuelan human rights activist Yesenia Gonzalez are calling for urgent investigations into human trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago.   They say the latest United States Trafficking in Persons Report highlights serious issues — from border control to alleged involvement of past government officials.

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00:00Williams says the report exposes weaknesses in the country's security and monitoring systems

00:05and as such the state needed to examine these allegations. We are calling for a microscopic

00:11examination of the trafficking in persons report of the U.S. 2025 which states that there were

00:18corrupt senior governmental officials in 2023 and 2020 involved in illegal trafficking and

00:24transnational crimes as well as the counter trafficking units what exactly have they

00:31achieved with the money given to them by whichever foreign government as well as a conclusion to the

00:37a conclusion into all the heinous crimes that happened at the helpful detention center. He also

00:45points out that the report cited allegations of minors being trafficked and sexually exploited

00:50which needed the government's attention. He says the government must also pay attention to regional

00:56threats citing recent tensions and incidents involving Venezuelan nationals as our proximity to

01:03the South American continent could have disastrous impacts on Trinidad and Tobago. That's all the

01:09interest it is that um any sort of war with Venezuela can be right it has the great ability to destabilize

01:16our country. He recalls that last month a Venezuelan national fired shots into the air in Storbe Tobago

01:24and when arrested he gave his name as Roger Alexander the same name of this country's homeland security

01:31minister. This he says is alarming on several levels including the possibility that there could be

01:38Venezuelan operatives in this country already acting against its interests. So that we simply won't know

01:44if there are any Venezuelan operatives in Trinidad and Tobago that may wish to destabilize our country.

01:50So that could be a plausible reason for the rush by the Minister of Homeland Security to ensure we know

01:57exactly who is in our country. Despite this Williams says that while the public ought to be attentive

02:05it ought not to be concerned just yet. Human rights activist Yesena Gonzalez claims human trafficking

02:11continues to thrive in Trinidad and Tobago. They're using them selling them so it's a big market in

02:18Trinidad. Trinidad is actually the place where any criminal who trafficking women or the white collar crime

02:29they know Trinidad and Tobago is the best place to negotiate to sell them. She says victims often fear

02:37reporting their cases to the police. Most of the time the victims are afraid of the police to make a report

02:47because the police will tell them in the station you are a prostitute you are not a victim

02:52and instead of helping them they arrest them and they put them in jail and send them back.

02:58Both Williams and Gonzalez say transparency and accountability are essential to tackling human

03:03trafficking and restoring trust in the country's efforts to protect vulnerable people. Alexander Bruiswall, TV6 News

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